I love Stacey Halls novels so when I saw she had a new book I requested it without even reading the synopsis.

The Household is set in 1847 London and its suburbs. It is centred around Urania Cottage which has been established to help "fallen" women improve their lives.

Angela is a benefactor of the cottage who has many demons of her own.

The relationships between the women, both "fallen" and "respectable", develop quickly and deeply.

I adore the way Stacey Halls writes and draws you into the story and makes the characters feel so real.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bonnier Books UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review

I have enjoyed all of Stacey Halls previous books, and was thrilled to receive this copy of her latest book to review. One of this author’s strengths is her historical research, with her books based on true events, and yet again we are transported to Victorian England and become engrossed in the period. This is a steady paced book with characters that readers become invested in and I enjoyed it. Thank you NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the advance review copy.

Never been grateful for getting a bad cold at Christmas before, but it gave me a great excuse to immerse myself in this book! Loved every minute of it and couldn’t wait to grab it and return to each thread of the story. The characters were great, with human depth and contradictions, not at all one-dimensional. I found myself pondering how well-intentioned help is not always received as such, and also how the early Victorian era was not immune to the concept of celebrity stalkers. I’ve read all of Stacey Halls’ books and am just disappointed I’ll have to wait a while for the next one! Sincere thanks to the publishers for the advance copy, in return for this honest review.

💫Book Review 💫

The Household by @staceyhallsauthor

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Publication date: 11 April 2024


Set in 1847, Charles Dickens has set up Urania Cottage, a home for “fallen” women to help them prepare for a better life. They go to school and learn to sew before eventually emigrating to Australia for a better life.

The story follows wealthy Angela Coutts who has funded the house as she becomes entwined with the fallen women and involved in their stories.

I went into this book pretty blind but definitely didn’t expect it to be a mystery/thriller. There was suspense throughout with a stalker, missing women and a plot twist.

I’m really into historical fiction at the moment so this book was made even better knowing it was based on a real house and that Charles Dickens and Angela Coutts are real people. I loved getting to know about the fallen women and the bond they all form from being women in a time where women very rarely get second chances to amend their mistakes.


Thank you to @netgalley, @staceyhallsauthor and @manilla_press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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Thanks to NetGalley for my copy - 2/5

Requested this one on NetGalley before I’d read Mrs England - another Stacey Halls that was an impulse Waterstones buy and had been languishing on my TBR pile. Needless to say, if I had read her earlier novel I wouldn’t have requested this …

Another twisty melodrama, this time set in Victorian England and involving the real life heiress to the Queen’s bank Angela Coutts, Charles Dickens and their house for “fallen women”. This book had it all - poverty, prostitution, stalking - but still failed to captivate.

The book was competent enough, but it was plot heavy and felt like nothing was happening, full of fascinating characters and lacked fascination and again, really poorly paced.

Would not recommend

Contemporary readers, familiar with the stories of Charles Dickens, will know that mid-nineteenth century England did not look upon women as remotely equal to men and woe betide them if they made a mistake or committed a crime, be it ever so minor. What readers might not know is that Dickens was founder of a safe haven for former well-behaved prisoners, named in ‘The Household’ as Urania Cottage, alongside Angela Burdett-Coutts, a philanthropist and one of the richest women in England.
Those living at Urania Cottage were expected to learn how to manage a household, becoming accomplished cooks and seamstresses so that they might emigrate to Australia when the committee decided they were ready, putting their past lives behind them.
Stacey Halls introduces us to the redoubtable Mrs Holdsworth, a sympathetic yet shrewd instructor and her household of women, in particular Martha, Polly and Josephine. As the story unfolds, we learn a great deal about the girls and their families, as well as their wealthy female benefactor. Whilst the latter has all the creature comforts one could wish for, she is just as troubled and tortured as those who have been punished by the law.
This is a wonderfully told and fully involving story. Stacey Halls has clearly researched her subject matter in great detail and the narrative feels authentically nineteenth century without tipping into clumsy pastiche. Highly recommended.
My thanks to NetGalley and Bonnier Books UK, Manilla Press for a copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I'm a big supporter of Stacey - we have successfully launched both the Familiars and the Foundling when they first came out, and I stayed close to her writing since. I was looking forward to the Household with it's excellent premise originating from the history of Urania Cottage. As always, it was educating and interesting to read about this unknown piece of London history and to imagine what that life could have looked like. The book was quite gentle, the pacing was also a little slow, but I enjoyed the setting and following the characters' journey. I'd be very keen to learn more about it and to have a glimpse into the writing process behind it.

An absolutely brilliant historical novel, set in Urania House, a home for unfortunate women based on a real place set up by Charles Dickens (who features in the book in a supporting role) One of the benefactors of the home is a wealthy young woman, Angela, whose life has been blighted by a stalker who has remained persistent for over 10 years.
Most of the characters are the young women who become resident at this charitable insitution, whoch provides a safe haven and comfortable lodgings for lasses who have recently left prison, been orphaned, mistreated or otherwise fallen by the wayside.
The characters are wonderfully drawn and the story of their lives is satisfying and complex.
There is Mrs Holdsworth the matron/ housekeeper put in charge of the women, and the residents themselves, scarred Josephine, lonely Martha, seeking her missing sisters, to name just two.
The twists and turns are manifold and the story weaves and winds keeping the reader turning the pages. It provided me with great entertainment over some dull winter days and I applaud the author whose previous works I have also greatly enjoyed.

I found this book very interesting especially as it us loosely based on actual events. I had no idea of Charles Dickens interest in setting up a home for 'fallen' women so this book was a history lesson as well as a great story.

Urania cottage was set up by Charles Dickens. This is a fictional account of some of the women who lived there, which was extremely interesting. I could not put this book down and have since found out more about Urania cottage which I had never heard of before reading this book.

A brilliant book for fans of Historical Fiction. Readers are transported back to Dickensian London to a very real home for ‘fallen women’ - Urania Cottage and given numerous perspectives surrounding life there. Routed in social commentary and capturing the essence of the time of expertly, this was a book I couldn’t put down and read in a matter of days. A skilful novel of intrigue, deception and escape, not to be missed!

Having read Stacey Halls’ previous novels, when I saw proofs had been released, I was very hopeful I’d get a copy and was gripped by this. Many thanks to Netgalley and Bonnie Books for the ARC.

The incredible resilience of the women in this book was the thing I enjoyed the most. Based on real people - such as Angela Counts, Charles Dickens and Richard Dunn, the author weaves an intimate, dark and compelling story imagining the other women's lives and emotions in this vivid story. The pace at the start gave space for me to get to know each character and to understand motives..The writing is beautiful and evocative. The menace palpable. The loyalty and love deeply moving.

I really enjoyed ‘The Foundling’ by Stacey Halls so was very happy to receive an ARC of ‘The Household’ from Netgalley. The Household revolves around a rehabilitation house for women recently released from prison. Urania House is funded by a rich heiress called Angela and organised by Charles Dickens to teach the women new skills and prepare for new lives in the colonies. The story starts off slowly as we get acquainted with the women in Urania House, their housekeeper Mrs Holdsworth, the chaplain that visits regularly and Angela. It becomes clear that the women are all haunted by their pasts, none can make the clean break they hoped for and this has knock-on effects to all involved in Urania House. The pace picks up in the second half of the novel and I struggled to put it down while I waited to discover what would happen to all the women - the ending is tied up a little too cleanly but is nonetheless satisfying.

Another first rate, wonderfully historically detailed novel from this very talented author. I always enjoy her work on two levels - a clever, well constructed fictional storyline coupled with highly informative historical facts that I'm compelled to Google further whilst reading. Loved it!

This book for me was just OK. I enjoyed it but at times was wondering when the plot was really going to get started. I loved the history aspect and how its based around women and the times they lived through, how hard it was and the strength they had, but again it fell a little flat for me this book.

Dickensian London, Coutts bank, 'fallen' women and Urania Cottage. The backdrop to this story is that of real life; Dickens did indeed help to found Urania Cottage, a home where fallen women could be housed/homed, educated and trained, ready for deportation to Australia. Stacey Halls has taken the historical situation and created another novel to intrigue and entertain - and to raise important issues of women, their place in society and what society did to repress those who already had little or nothing. Fact and fiction are blended together to craft an interesting story with intriguing characters such as Angela Burdetts-Coutts, Josephine and Martha, and with brief glimpses of Mr Dickens himself.

Although I enjoyed reading this I wasn't as 'hooked' as I was with Mrs England, and so to a certain extent was a little disappointed that it wasn't as gripping. What has stayed with me however are some of the descriptions of life in England for the least, the lost and the lonely. Victorian England at its lower end was not a pleasant place to live, and Halls includes several descriptions of the underlife.

And maybe there's another story line going on here too - reminding us that this level of poverty and desperation still exists in our world today.

I'm glad to have read The Household and am grateful to the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced reader copy. These views are my own.

I absolutely loved this story, I loved the way it went from a high wealthy lonely lady to underprivileged young girls. The historical element with Charles Dickens threaded through the story was inspired. I couldn’t put this book down and wanted to get to the end to see where the story took all of the key characters.

I was completely drawn in to this book from the very start. I felt I could picture the entire novel as though it was a film due to the wonderful writing of the author.

The plot was well-thought out, thorough in its detail and depth of each character, and although I did wonder halfway through how exactly all the storylines would be woven together, I was not left disappointed when that finally did happen. There some twists I didn’t see coming and others I hoped for… overall, a wonderful read that immerses you in the past.

I absolutely loved reading The Household by Stacey Halls. She is one of my all time favourite historical fiction authors.

Angela Burdett-Coutts (as in the private bank!) and Charles Dickens (yes, the author!) are two of the trustees of a charity running Urania Cottage in leafy Shepherds Bush in Middlesex. Urania Cottage is designed to give women recently released from prisons or work houses a second chance, where they are given a religious education, learn how to read and write, how to cook and keep house.

The story focuses on the trials and tribulations of Josephine and Martha, two of the women who chose to go to Urania House. It also focuses on the torment running through Angela’s life, despite her extreme wealth and privilege. Even though they have very different social standings in Victorian London, their lives bisect one anothers.

Stacey Halls really makes her characters so believable and you can’t help but root for them and hope they find happiness or whatever they are looking for.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Bonnier Books UK, for making available the e-ARC in exchange for fair and honest review.

Having read The Familiars, I was intrigued to read another of Stacey Halls's historical books, and The Household did not disappoint.
With a base planted in truth, Halls adds a layer of imagination to the story of Charles Dickens' home for fallen women, Urania Cottage, backed by Miss Burdett-Coutts and some of its earliest (fictitious) residents.
In the 1800s, Dickens had the idea of creating this refuge or home to rehabilitate those known as fallen women, teaching them household jobs and skills, with a view to transporting them to Australia to start new lives.
In reality, he had much to do with choosing the women granted access to this opportunity. In the book, we don't see much of Dickens. The story revolves around the girls who are the first residents and their backstories, as well as the horrific stalking that Angela Burdett-Coutts experienced for a length of time.
The historical aspect of the story, peppered with facts but liberally seasoned with fiction leaves readers with a wonderful reading experience.
And a mention of Gravesend (my home for 20 years!) at the end made my day!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Bonnier Books for an ARC.